The New Orleans Saints defended their spot on top of the NFC South against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, improving to 4-1 on the year and 3-0 with Teddy Bridgewater starting in place of Drew Brees. Bridgewater finally flexed the vertical-throwing ability many have wanted to see, lobbing four touchdown passes against the Tampa Bay secondary.
Bridgewater’s big day began with a 14-yard strike to wide receiver Michael Thomas, who proved to be his favorite target against the Buccaneers. Thomas caught the pass short of the goal line but was able to fight his way up to the pylon, stretching out to break the plane and get points on the board. See it for yourself:
But Bridgewater was just getting started. Late in the second quarter, just seconds before halftime, Bridgewater struck tight end Jared Cook for his second touchdown pass of the day — and Cook’s first scoring play with New Orleans.
Now sufficiently warmed up, Bridgewater extended the lead to 24-10 after the halftime break by moving 75 yards in just three plays, or 76 seconds of game time. This time he connected with wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. on a 33-yard dart.
And Thomas made sure to congratulate Ginn for his big play, sprinting over to celebrate with his teammate:
To even out his day in the offense, Bridgewater went back to his reliable leading receiver. He and Thomas teamed up again for a 12-yard touchdown pass-and-catch early in the fourth quarter.
This game featured everything fans have hoped to see out of Bridgewater since he took over for Brees. This kind of confidence-building game can do a lot to build momentum moving forward. The Saints will travel to play the Jacksonville Jaguars next Sunday.
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